Hidden Language of the Soul

[Prudence Warner]

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul”
― Martha Graham

Prudence Warner walked into the dance studio. The woman smiled as she looked around. "It's good to be home." She breathed as she crossed the floor to the stereo and put in the CD for that day's class. Like a lot of the student body, she too had left the campus at the beginning of the vacation. She had returned to the American Ballet Academy in Salem, Oregon and taught pre-ballet and Ballet I classes, as well as having a little one on one time with her own teacher. She had thoroughly enjoyed her time back with the Academy, and was tempted to take on a job that they offered her, but had turned it down to return to her students in Blue Ridge.

She was wearing an olive leotard, grey knit shorts, a pink wrap front sweater and pink leg warmers along with her pink ballet pointe shoes. She was normally dressed in the same uniform that she asked her students to arrive in, but had decided to shake things up a little today, and she preferred to wear pointe shoes over slippers, but didn't give her students the choice, they were only allowed to wear slippers in dance class. She turned the music on and took her time warming up her own muscles so that she was stretched and ready for when the class arrived.

She had only just finished when the students began entering the studio and when she was sure they were all accounted for she smiled warmly. "Welcome to you all." She said. "For those that don't know me, I am Ms Warner. I ask that you all find yourselves a spot at the barre and we will begin." She waited for them to position themselves at the bar. "And just because I've been doing ballet all summer, that's what I'll use to warm you up today." She walked over to the stereo and pushed play. "Starting in first position with demi-pliés.. grand pliés.. on to slow tendu.. now tendus in fifth, which are a little faster with degages... On to piqués and we will finish with a balance at the barre.. then onto ron de jambe  with these, I would like you to include some lunges and port a bras and finish with a balance in arabesque to stretch out the back muscles...
Next we do frappe... on to grand ronds de jambe... Take some time to do Barre stretch... And we'll finish with grand battements..."

Once the class had finished the warm up, Prue smiled around her students. There was only one new face this year, and the girl hadn't missed a step, so she obviously had a bit of ballet in her background. "As you're at the barre, let's continue our lesson there. One demi-plié, two grand-pliés, one relevé (on half toe) in first, second, fourth and fifth. Two battlement tendus in demi-plié; front, side, back, and side. Half turn toward the barre and repeat. Battlement tendu jettés: three to the front, and again. Seven to the side. Three to the back, and repeat. Seven to the other side. Well done ladies." As they had been going through the movements, Prue had been walking down the line of dancers, fixing the odd posture here and there, tweaking how the head was sitting, how a hand was positioned, the arch of the back, the angle of the leg; things that were often forgotten whilst the dancer was thinking about her next move.

OOC: I'm working on the fact that all of the students, other than Libby, were all in Prue's class the year befrore, so she's got them now doing "third year" ballet work. And if anyone wants to know, other than the warm-ups and cool-downs, the lessons come from the book: 100 Lessons in Classical Ballet.

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This is the warm-up

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney stood in her dorm room, slipping her arms into her leotard and fixing the fabric until it sat smoothly on her petite frame. She brushed her hands down her body, impressed with the way her body curved nicely from years of being active. She was thin, but not skinny, and well toned. Her legs looked even longer in the pink tights she wore for dance class. Her ballet slippers were tucked carefully into the dance bag, along with everything else she needed for the class. Running a brush through her brunette hair, she pulled it back and twisted it into a ballet bun that sat on the top of her head, she then used a bun cover and hair pins to hold the bun in place, with a quick coat of hair spray, she was ready to go.

It didn't take her long to get to the gymnasium and she headed down to the dance studio with a bounce in her stride. She was glad to be going to dance class. Pushing the door open, she entered the studio and smiled toward their instructor, who was just turning the CD player off, and she took a seat on one of the benches lining the wall where she kicked her sneakers off and put her ballet slippers on.

She made her way over to the barre when they were asked to and went through the barre exercises as Ms Warner called them out. She had been expecting to come to class and the woman to work them as though they were just starting ballet class, and wasn't expecting the warm up that they were put through.

Her heartrate was up by the time the warm-up was over, and she held back a whimper when she heard Ms Warner say that they were going to continue the lesson at the barre. So she hadn't been kidding when she had said they were just going to warm-up. Standing tall, she went through the movements as they were called, allowing her body to flow with the music that was gently floating around the room. She straightened her back a little and pulled her stomach in as Ms Warner put a hand on her stomach, the other on the small of her back and pressed.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Elizabeth pulled on her pink tights and then stepped into her black leotard. She couldn't believe it when she ready that there was a uniform for the dance class, but there again she had a uniform for gymnastics. Though she would represent the Academy in that uniform at meets, in dance, she was just in class!

With her hair up in a bun, she made her way to the gymnasium and then through to the dance studio. Dropping her bag on the bench, she kicked her shoes off and slipped the slippers on. Then at the woman's instructions, followed the other girls over to the barre. She followed the instructions as she worked her way through the exercises.

She had done ballet in the past, as it helped with her gymnastics, but she'd never done it in a way to completely devote her life to the dance, as she'd also done jazz and hip hop - again for gymnastics. As the lesson moved on, she began to falter, and nodded her thanks when Ms Warner helped adjust her arm and foot. She wondered if the woman gave private lessons, as she needed to get up to the level of the other dancers in the class, which she guessed was the problem of being the new kid.

[Athena Achilles]

Athena drew in a shuddering breath as she got dressed for her first dance class. She was pleased that she could use the same outfit that she wore for ballet school. However, she knew that there would be no ballet school from now on. She had guessed, while she had been locked away on that property in the middle of nowhere that once she got to her next destination, she wouldn't be leaving again. Outside her window was miles and miles of space for her to explore, but still, she felt like a prisoner.

Grabbing her dance bag, she left her room and headed around to the gymnasium. She walked down and spotting a student walking through one of the doors, she followed and discovered that it was indeed the studio that she was looking for. Entering the dance studio, she put her dance bag down on the bench and swapped her tennis shoes for her ballet slippers. She had wanted to bring her pointe shoes, but remembered that the booklet said she had to wear flats in the class.

She jumped when the teacher's voice rang through the room, instructing them to head to the barre. Finding herself a spot where she felt comfortable, she placed her hand on the barre and began to follow the woman's directions as she led them through simple barre exercises... well, she guessed that they wouldn't have been that simple if someone had never done ballet before.

As they moved from the barre exercises to proper barre work, she lost herself to the music as she performed the movements that were called by Ms Warner, and when the woman came up behind her and touched the small of her back, the poor girl leapt into the air, and then berated herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. She felt her cheeks heat up as she ducked her head. She then pulled herself together, moved her feet into fifth position and carried on with the next movement that the teacher called out.

[Deleted]

Kate was more than ready for her dance classes for the year to start again. She had danced a lot over the summer at her old ballet academy back home, and had loved being able to dance on pointe for the most part. Madame had seemed to appreciate Kate returning, though as usual, she showed her affection through critique and the rare compliment. Now, Kate was back in her slippers for classes at Blue Ridge, which was going to drive her nuts after a summer en pointe. Perhaps later that evening she would return to the studio with her pointe shoes. 

Gazing at the mirror, Kate smoothed her hand over her perfect bun, making sure every hair was in place. She already had her standard, elegant black leotard on over the pale pink tights that were part of their uniform. Grabbing her bag, which held her slippers, water, bobby pins, hair ties, and other essentials, she threw on a pair of sweatpants, a long sleeve t-shirt, and sneakers, and headed down to the dance studio.

Having arrived, Kate peered around the studio where other girls were already getting ready. There were a few new girls, but Kate guessed that without Cara here this year, she would probably be the most experienced dancer in the class. Pulling off her pants and shirt, Kate slipped into her ballet slippers and found a spot at the barre behind a slim brunette girl who was new to the class. She could watch the two new girls from this spot since she was the last in the line of girls. which would enable her to assess their abilities.

Kate smiled at Ms. Warner when the teacher said that they would be warming up at the barre. Ballet warm-ups were Kate's favorite, since they made her feel, well, strong. Following through the warm-up, Kate knew that while some students may have dulled their skills over the summer months, she had made herself stronger than ever. During the warm-up, Kate had been observing the other girls, and had been surprised to see that the new girl in front of her obviously had been through a good amount of ballet training.

Kate was grateful to stay at the barre after their warm-up, since it meant that they would probably be focusing on ballet for the rest of the class. She tried not to let her movements become monotonous as she went through them with the rest of the class, which was easy to do once one has done them enough. She focused on keeping her edge, with her movements precise and on task, yet flowing and elegant.

[Prudence Warner]

Pure smiled at her students. "You now have a couple of minutes to got yourselves a drink if you need one. If you don't have your own drink bottles, there's a water cooler in the corner over there." She pointed to the back corner of the studio by the door that led into her office. "I will ask that you bring your own drink bottles for the next class. Once you have had a drink, please find a space for yourself in the centre of the room."

Once the students were standing, in first position, waiting for her, she continued the lesson. "Two grand pliés in first position. Développé front (right leg), rising on half toe. Two grand pliés in second. Développé back (same leg), rising on half toe. Développé to side (right leg), rising on half toe. Grand rond de jambe développé en dehors (left leg). Trace a half circle in plié (rond de jambe a terre) en dedans. Soutenu in fifth position half toe, raising the arms; the right to third and the left to second; looking toward the right hand, then down onto both feet. Fifth port de bras. first arabesque, pointe tendure on the floor, in plié (left leg). Your right arm should now be in third position, head turned to the left." The music that was playing in the background was at a four by four beat and her instructions had been slightly ahead of the music so that her dancers were always in time with each measure. As she spoke, she walked around the girls, making sure not to get in the way of their movements, correcting the odd thing here and there, though it seemed that her girls were turning into well seasoned ballerinas, even the two new girls in her class didn't seem to be having any issues keeping up.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney's ballerina posture vanished as soon as Ms Warner said that they could go and get themselves a drink and the girl scooted over to where she had left her bag and took a drink out of her bottle. She then took the towel out of the bag and dabbed at her forehead and neck.

The thought of doing floor exercises made the girl grimace, but she went and found herself a spot on the floor. She arched an eyebrow in thought as she wondered what their instructor would say to her turning up to dance in her cheer uniform. After all, the skirt was made to do all sorts of gymnastic moves, so it wouldn't stop her from being about to do Jetés or arabesques.

She followed the woman's instructions, struggling a little in places to be able to keep up, and keep her arms where they should be at all the right times, but she enjoyed the pace of what they were doing, and was liking the fact that the woman was really pushing in the first class of the year, and she hoped that it would continue like this... well, as long as Ms Warner didn't expect them to be wearing pointe shoes by the end of the year. Cort had seen Centre Stage, she had seen what pointe shoes did to those girls' feet and they were seasoned dancers. She jumped as someone moved her arm and repositioned her head, and she gave the instructor a guilty grin. She had been so focused on just listening and her own thoughts, she hadn't thought for a second about where the woman's voice was coming from.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby was just getting into things when their teacher said that they could break to get a drink. "What are we?" She muttered as she glided over to her bag. "A bunch of kindergarteners?" She picked up her drink bottle and had a sip of the water, almost wishing that it were an energy drink rather than water, as she felt like some sugar right now. She had been the one gymnast who seemed to eat anything and everything that she wanted, and still she was stick thin.

Finding herself a space in the studio, she waited in first position - as was normal for a ballerina unless asked to wait in another position. When the Ms Warner began to call out steps as the music started, she easily kept up pace with the instructions and was thoroughly enjoying herself, it was like being back at her old dance studio, all that was missing were her gymnastics team.

Before too soon, the music came to and end and she was in fifth position and breathing hard. Eventually, the woman actually got us to break a sweat. She said to herself as she waited for the next instructions. Surely they hadn't been dancing for that long and there would be time to do another exercise before their cool down. 

[Deleted]

Kate rolled a shoulder back meticulously when Ms. Warner gave them a break, though her ballerina posture remained intact, as it always did, except for when she was riding. The difference between a ballet dancer's straight back and the arch in a hunter/jumper equitation rider's back was immense, and she'd struggled with it for years, but she'd finally learned to control her muscles so that she could position herself correctly for both activities.

Stepping over to her bag, she drank from her water bottle and looked around at the other dancers while she had the chance. What they were doing wasn't difficult as usual, and she knew that soon enough she would end up being bored. She was disappointed that the school didn't have any classes that focused on ballet or levels of dance, but she could deal with and and dance on her own. Besides, showing off was one of her favorite things to do.

When finished, she found a space as instructed and began to follow through the instructions again, enjoying the feeling of complete control over her lithe, disciplined body. She loved the ballet they were doing, as it was something she knew well, and could do with barely a thought. She could focus on her grace, rather than trying to convince her body to cooperate with new steps. When they finished, her heart rate had elevated, and she glanced around at the other dancers, her chin raised in her usual superior manner. She wasn't trying to look like a snob, and she certainly wasn't thinking too much like one, despite her slight stuck-up attitude, but her nose was always a little higher in the air than it should be.

[Gretchen Holmes]

Gretchen flopped down ungracefully the minute they were told they could have a break. She reached for her water bottle, sucking down nearly half of it as though she hadn't had anything to drink in days. She was incredibly out of shape, and it would certainly take a while for her to get back into dancing as effortlessly as she once had.

She did like dancing, really she did, but the only reason she was even here was because her father worked at the New York City ballet, and she wanted to make him proud. She smiled half-heartedly as she thought of her grandfather. The old man was one of the most bitter people she knew, and that meant she was going to have to work twice as hard to impress him with her dancing. He'd seen the very best, and now was in a time in his life where he reflected on that.

Stealing a quick glance at the other dancers, she shoved her water bottle into her bag before leaning her head back against the wall, steepling her fingers under her chin, and closing her eyes for a brief moment.She wasn't really all that tired, she just thought that this position was relaxing. Though outwardly she looked as though she were napping, her senses were finely tuned to everything going on around her. She listened to the shuffling of the other dancers as they quickly put their drinks away and went to find a position on the dance floor.

With her breath caught, Gretchen's eyes snapped open and she hopped to her feet to join the other dancers. She immediately moved towards the end on the lineup of girls, distancing herself slightly. First position came naturally to her, and once the music started and the instructions were given she managed to keep up. Barely, but she kept up in time to the music. Her movements were precise, though stiff due to her lack of dancing in recent times. By the time the music stopped she was once again panting, feeling breathless and out of shape once more. A glance at the other dancers made her blush slightly in embarrasement, they were hardly breaking a sweat. She waited with quiet interest for the next set of instructions.